It's Not a Cinch to Clinch

Orioles Score in the 13th Inning to Beat Yankees, Knot Series at 2-2

ENLARGE

The Yankees couldn't beat the Orioles on Thursday.
Reuters

By

Daniel Barbarisi

Updated Oct. 12, 2012 12:45 a.m. ET

The tale was the same one told so many times this season. With a series-clinching win so close Thursday night, the Yankees put runner after runner on base, hoping to secure the victory and knock the Baltimore Orioles out of the postseason.

But just as they have all year, the Yankees failed to bring all those baserunners home. The two teams stayed tied 1-1 through the ninth inning, and for the second night in a row, plowed deep into extra innings, as the Yankees stranded one man after another to let the Orioles stay alive.

Finally, in the top of the 13th inning, it cost them. A pair of Oriole doubles brought in a run, and Baltimore held onto their 2-1 lead to survive another day and tie this series at two games apiece.

BAL - 2

NYY - 1

The Yankees and Orioles will face off in the final game of this back-and-forth series Friday evening at 5:07 p.m. It will be a game with much to live up to.

Thursday's fourth game was typical of what has been a remarkably tight series, one where the two teams went into the ninth inning tied or separated by one run in every game. The Yankees won the first game off Baltimore's All-Star closer, Jim Johnson, with a five-run outburst in the ninth. Baltimore came back for a tight 3-2 win in Game 2, and the Yankees countered with Raul Ibanez and his walk-off heroics to win Game 3 3-2.

In Thursday's battle of fourth starters, Yankee Phil Hughes matched up his fastball and newly developed slider against Baltimore's soft-tossing lefty Joe Saunders, and neither would give an inch. Both men pitched beyond expectations, letting runners reach base and then stranding them.

More on Yankees

This series was billed as a battle of bullpens, but it's been the starting pitchers who have truly stood out. No starter, for either team, in any of the four games, gave up more than two runs. All four Yankee starters pitched into the seventh inning. All four Oriole starters pitched into the sixth. The two most dominant home-run hitting teams in the majors have combined for a total of six home runs, and most of those came off relievers.

Hughes pitched into the seventh inning, striking out eight and allowing only one run on a Nate McLouth home run in the fifth. Saunders matched him exactly with his junkballing arsenal, and the Yankees were all too happy to help him maintain his sterling line.

Thursday, the Yankees played it like they have all season: Get men on base, and then strand them. Alex Rodriguez, dropped to fifth in the order for the first time this season, reached first base twice in the early innings—and was promptly stranded by the struggling Nick Swisher.

Russell Martin drew a walk to begin the fifth inning, and looked set to score when fill-in shortstop Jayson Nix drove a ball to the 399-foot sign in left center. But McLouth raced back to make a fantastic grab at the wall, and a scrambling Martin was doubled off as the ball beat him back to first base.

The most egregious failure came in the eighth inning, when Ichiro Suzuki and Mark Teixeira whacked singles, and moved over on a Robinson Cano groundout.

That, unfortunately for the Yankees, brought up the duo of Rodriguez and Swisher. Rodriguez was wiped out by sidearming bullpen nemesis Darren O'Day, and Swisher then flew out to right field to end the inning.

The Yankees tried to recapture some of Wednesday night's walk-off magic when Raul Ibanez came out of the dugout to pinch hit with two out in the ninth inning. But despite a standing ovation from the crowd and persistent "Ra-uuuul" chants, the best Ibanez could do was ground out.

The two teams slogged through the 10th, 11th and 12th innings, with the only moment of tension coming when Matt Wieters's broken bat hit Joba Chamberlain in the pitching elbow, forcing him from the game with a bone bruise.

Finally, rookie David Phelps gave up a leadoff double to fellow rookie Manny Machado to start the 13th, and Oriole shortstop J.J. Hardy followed with a double to bring in Machado.

The winner of Friday's final game moves on to face the Detroit Tigers Saturday.

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